Saturday, August 20, 2011

Allison Danger, in addition to being a full-time mother, booker and one of the best female wrestlers in the game, is also a blogger and a feminist. She's not burning bras, but she is doing what everyone should be doing, standing up for women in wrestling. This one's a must read if only because of one of the horror stories she had to go through in North Carolina. Take a read at this passage:

A few years back I was booked to do a show in North Carolina. I was part of a baby face tag team against a heel team of a female with similar time in as me and another female with a little less time but a monster build. Both good opponents to share a ring with. Unfortunately, the worker booked as my tag partner had to cancel off. The promoter, instead of finding a suitable female wrestler, decided to put in a worker’s girlfriend who, I believe, had never even taken a bump yet. Good times! We were able to structure a match around this person’s limitations and the match was go. Sadly, about two minutes into the heat, this gal tags out and leaves the rings because....wait for it....SHE GOT BORED TAKING THE HEAT. Thankfully, the remaining members of our match, who were not bored, were able to pull together a somewhat decent ending that didn’t kill them and told a story. In the back we get no apology and no explanation other than the “I was bored” and “I was in there for so long I thought you guys were playing a joke on me”. She spent the rest of the night suction cupped to her boyfriend while fixing her hair so she could manage him in the main event. Worst part is, neither the boyfriend (who was also her trainer) nor the promoter saw any problem with this behavior. Guess what, gang. This happens all the time (well, not the bored part, that was new to even me!). In this case, we were lucky that no one in the match was hurt. Not everyone gets that lucky. This does not happen to the guys so why are us females subjected to it? This is where we need to learn to say no. To do so in a respectful and professional manner. I feel secure in myself and my position that I can finally say no to doing matches like that. If the promoter chooses not to use me then cool. As long as I know I handled it professionally and within reason then I know I can sleep well having lost that booking. Not every female wrestler has that luxury though. We as women need to band together to protect one another. If we stand together we have a genuine shot as changing this mentality and providing a safer environment for one another. I am going to summarize something Lufisto told me one of the first times we met (I repeat this sentiment in training and seminars regularly now); “We may not like everyone but in the ring we are all best friends. And that is how we need to protect each other”. Perfection.

Yeah. That definitely happened. So yeah, if you think that WWE treats women bad, things can be even worse, just as some indie promoters can be sleazier than the mainstream.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography